Platypus (game)
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Platypus is the name of a horizontal scrolling shooter game created by Anthony Flack (aka Squashy Software). You play as an antiquated spacecraft (the last of the F-27 Platypus fleet) attempting to defend planet Mungola from Colossatropolis (which has become so overcrowded that its inhabitants are taking over Mungola for space and resources). It goes by a Level-Area structure, with 5 Areas in one Level. You get scores depending on the percent of primary targets and transport carriers you kill. A free demo is playable. Platypus was funded and is owned by Idigicon. The music is by Chris Abbot.
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[edit] Claymation
All the artwork for the game is created using a process called Claymation. Anthony Flack has stated that due to limited availability of Plasticine in his home country of New Zealand at the time the game was created, he re-used the same lump of gray plasticine to create all the models, photographed them with a digital camera, and added color to the digital images on Adobe Photoshop.
[edit] PSP Release
As of November 14 2006 this has been released for Sony PSP in America Published by Mumbo Jumbo software
[edit] Enemies
- UFOs - UFOs are the primary enemies. They die in one hit and fly straight across the screen, sometimes going in little waves. Gray UFOs are independent fighters, while orange UFOs are deployed in squadrons.
- Rockets - Rockets are another common enemy. Gray ones go up and down diagonally while orange ones go up and down diagonally and then turn around to go back to the primary enemy base.
- Egg Fighters - Yellow, egg-shaped fighters with guns. Have some health.
- Egg Capital Ships - Extremely large, green Egg fighters with a lot of health. They have guns.
- Egg Destroyer Ships - Brown, cylinder-like egg ships with some health. They fire deadly lightning bolts and must be destroyed.
- Admiral Ship - A huge, yellow submarine with two stages. Stage 1: Stays in the sea until destroyed. Stage 2: Becomes a flying threat that releases Class 2 Missiles.
- The Giant - A huge green ship with several parts that must be destroyed individually.
- Patrol Boats - Seabound ships which fire guided missiles at the player.
- Class 2 Missiles - Red missiles that follow the ship until the player destroys them.
- Transport Carrier - These green ships carry supplies to the enemy HQ. Secondary targets. Destroy for fruits and the occasional coin.
- Guard - These are basically red transport carriers with guns. Secondary targets. Protect Transport Carriers from your fire.
- Primary Transport Carrier - an enormous red transport carrier that carries lots of supplies to the enemy base. Is usually flanked by two Guards.
- Winged Fighter - Purple ships which have some health. Have guns.
- Kamikazes - Medium-sized, white spacecraft that turn and try to crash into you. Very dangerous.
- Swirlies - Small, fast, and deadly crescent-shaped ships that swirl around the screen in large swarms. They are very hard to avoid.
- Guns - The enemies have already dug bases into the mountainsides. Sometimes you will see guns protruding from cliffs. They will fire at you. Have some health.
- Factory - Very large buildings that are secondary targets. Hard to destroy.
- Carrier Train - Enormous, wheeled trains like this carry supplies from throughout Mungola to the enemy HQ. They rarely appear, and when they do, are the length of the whole level. The train cars are secondary targets, but the engine must be destroyed and has a missile launcher as well as a gun.
- Airborne Monstrosity - The deadliest ship of the game. Has a leviathan amount of health and releases Egg Fighters. Usually flanked by a few Egg Destroyer Ships.
[edit] Platypus 2
Recently a sequel to Platypus, "Platypus 2" has been released. The sequel includes the ability to select ship type, enemy bosses can appear anywhere, and at any stage in the game, and it includes many new enemies.
[edit] See also
- Clay animation (Claymation)
- The Neverhood, a computer game by Doug TenNapel
- Dark Oberon, a computer game project by some students of the Charles University in Prague.
